ESCORIAL MONASTERY, VALLEY OF THE FALLEN HALF DAY VAN TOUR

ESCORIAL MONASTERYAND VALLEY OF THE FALLEN

Our private Escorial and Valley of the Fallen half day tour is quoted by travellers among best day trips from Madrid

On this private El Escorial Tours from Madrid, we're going to put you in touch with the fascinating personality of King Philip the Second and his greatest life achievement, the EscorialMonastery.

We will pick you up at your hotel and then drive by private Van to the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial. This spectacular historical wonder of Renaissance Architecture presides over North Madrid sierra with its 4 corner towers of 45 meters high comprising an area of 39.858 square yards which is contained within an architectural complex enclosing 2600 windows (296 of them facing outwardly) – 1200 Doors – 86 staircases – 88 fountains – 16 patios – 15 cloisters and other interior 9 towers built under the guidance of Juan de Herrera, a genius of Renaissance architecture. The Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial is an astounding proof of architectural, artistic and historical brilliance, which unravels the psychology and world view of the monarchs of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. It should be noted that the monastery was also a convent which was used as the home of 100 priests belonging to the order of Saint Jerome. It also served as a royal palace with its royal library, royal basilica and a luxurious royal pantheon where the remains of the kings of Spain (except Philip V and Ferdinand VI) from Charles I onwards rest in peace.

The Valley of the Fallen is a highly controversial concept of power, reflected in a monumental work of twentieth-century architectural engineering. A huge granite cross measuring 191 yards, the highest in the world, overlooks a forest of 1,365 acres. A 546 yards tunnel, dug deep into the hard rock, contains the graves of General Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975, José Antonio, a falangist leader assasinated at the early stages of the civil conflict and thousands of others killed on both sides in the bloody Spanish Civil War. In our private tour you will understand the reasons why a monument, created for national reconciliation after the civil war, has become a controversial and repulsive object for some people of progressive ideology.